Manufacturing tetraethyl lead



Patented July 26, 1949 IUNITED S A t t t upgmp irgg' riifaAnrnYnHA i t Roy Joseph Plunkett, Woodstown, N. J assignor 1 tell). I. duper-1t "deiNemours & Compan WilmingtongDeL, acorporation of Delaware i No matin Anthea use Maintains. a

Serial No. 65647.2

This invention relates to a process for manufacturing tetraethyl lead and more particularly to catalyzing the ethylation of lead monosodium alloy with ethyl chloride.

In the usual commercial process for manufacturing tetraethyl lead-ethyl chloride is reacted with lead monosodium alloy in a closed vessel under pressure at about 65 C. to about 85 C. This process ordinarilyrequ-ires 5'or more hours to complete the reaction. In recent years, it has become importanttovery greatly increase the production of tetraethyl lead. In order to increase such production materially, it has become importantand desirable to greatly decrease the tiriiefor harming the reaction to completion. Whenit has been attempted to decrease the time ofreactionin-the old-processes, the yield of tetraethyl lead from a given "batch of alloy is materially decreased and additional and diiiicult problems of separating the tetraethyl lead from crease in the yield; Another object is to provide a process whereby the time for completion of the reaction may be greatly decreased with a resulting large increase in the production of tetraethyl lead. A further object is to provide new and improved catalysts for the reaction of ethyl chloride with lead monosodium alloy. Other objects are to advance the art. Still other objects will appear hereinafter.

The above and other objects may be accomplished in accordance with my invention which comprises carrying out the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium alloy in the presence of a small proportion, sufiicient to accelerate the reaction, of an acetal which consists of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and 0 to 2 chlorine atoms. I have found that such acetals are extremely effective catalysts for this reaction, increasing the speed of the reaction to such an extent that the time required for completion of the reaction is reduced to about one hour. At the same time, high yields of tetraethyl lead are obtained and the difliculty of separating the tetraethyl lead from the reaction mass is not increased. Thereby, the production of tetraethyl lead in a plant is very materially speeded and increased.

I have found that the acetals of the above defined class are, as a whole, very effective for accelerating the reaction. The term an acetal" is employed herein in its generic sense to include :6 Claims: (01. zoo-43*!) the diali'phatic ethers of the hypothetical ethyli- .deue glycol and the analogous ethers of the higherand lower alkylidene glycols. The acetals maybe saturated or unsaturated and may contain chlorine, hydroxy and carboxylic ester groups. Preferably, they contain only 2 oxygen atoms. Particularly satisfactory results ,have been obtained with 1,1-diethoxyethane a'cetal) and z-chloro-1.1-diethoxyethane. Satisfactory results have also beenobtainejd with dimethyl acetal and with dimethoxymethane.

The proportions of the acetals employedm'ay bevaried widely and will depend upon the cendillijOlflSflll'lDlOYGd and particularly on the size of 'thebatchesand the equipment. Generally, they willbe employed in the proportion of from about 01005% to about 0.5% based on the ethyl chloride. If the proportion of the acetals employed are {increased substantially above 0.5% in large scale plant operations carried out in an'autoclave, they become less effective and may even be-detrimental to' the yields. Generally, in small scale'production in a bomb, larger amounts of the acetals will be eifectiveand may even be desirable. In such small scale production, l,'1-=diethoxyethane and 2-chloro-1,1-diethoxyethane have been found to be effective in proportions as high as 1.5% based on the ethyl chloride. However, in substantially all cases, the optimum results are obtained with 1% or less of the acetals.

While the acetals may be added to the reactants or to the reaction vessel in any desired manner and at any desired stage of the process, it will generally be most desirable to add the particular acetal to the ethyl chloride prior to mixing the ethyl chloride with the alloy. Except for the addition of the catalyst and the shorter time required for completion of the process, the process of making the tetraethyl lead will remain unchanged.

In order to more clearly illustrate my invention, preferred modes of carrying the same into effect and the advantageous results to be obtained thereby, the following examples are given:

Example I Approximately g. of lead-sodium alloy (containing 10.0% sodium) of a size which passed a 4 mesh screen and was retained on a 10 mesh screen, was charged into each of six steel bombs having a capacity of ml. Fifty milliliters of ethyl chloride was added to each bomb and 0.7 cc. .of acetal (1,1-diethoxyethane) was added to each of three of them. The bombs were closed and tumbled in a water-bath maintained at 85 spirit or scope thereof.

Example II A run was made similarto Example I 'except that five bombs were charged and 0.4 cc. of methylal (dimethoxymethane) was substituted for acetal in three of them. The yields, in the three bombs containing methylal, were 86.43%, 84.80%

and 84.61% while the yields in the othertwo v were 81.06% and 80.87%.

It will be understood that my inventionis not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, but that my invention may be modified in various respects Without departing from the For example, other .acetals, within the above defined class, will be .apparentto those skilled in the art and may be (employed inplace thereof.

I claim: V

1. In the process of making tetraethyl lead by the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium .alloy, the improvement which comprises carrying out the reaction in the presence of a small proportion, sufficient to accelerate the reaction,

of an acetal of the class which consists of acetals consisting of carbon, hydrogen and two oxygen atoms and corresponding monochlorine and dichlorine substituted ac'etals. I

, 2. In the process of making tetraethyl lead by the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium alloy, the improvement whichfcomprises carrying out the reaction in the presence of a small proportion, suificient to accelerate the reaction, of an acetal which consists of carbon,

,hydrogen and two oxygen atoms.

3. In the process of making tetraethyl lead by the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium alloy, the improvement which comprises carrying out the reaction in the presence of a small proportion, sufiicient to accelerate the reaction, of 1,1-diethoxyethane.

4.- In the process of making tetraethyl lead by the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium alloy, the improvement which comprises carrying out the reaction'in the presence of a small proportion, sufficient to accelerate the reaction,

' of dimethoxymethane.

5. In the process of making tetraethyl lead by the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium alloy, the improvement which comprises carrying out the reaction in the presence of a small proportion, sufiicient to accelerate the reaction, of an acetal which consists of carbon, hydrogen, two oxygen atoms and a single chlorine atom.

6. In the process of making tetraethyl lead by the reaction of ethyl chloride on lead monosodium alloy, theimprovement which comprises carrying .out the reaction in the presence of a small proportion, sufiicient to accelerate the reaction, of 2-chloro-1,1-diethoxyethane.

. ROY JOSEPH PLUNKETT..

- 7 REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent: p

UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Q Name V Date 1,622,228 Midgley' Mar. 22,1927 1,645,389 Monroe Oct. 11,192? 1,717,961 Daudt et a1. June 18, 1929 1,749,567 Daudt Mar. 4, 1930 i FOREIGN PATENTS Number-" v Country Date 216,083 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1925 OTHER REFERENCES l g V Richters Organic Chemistry (ed. byiAllott), 3rd ed,, 1934, vol. I, pages 24l-242. 

